Wikipedia
The Écréhous (or Les Écréhou; in Jèrriais: Êcrého) are a group of islands and rocks situated six miles (9.6 km) north-east of Jersey, and eight miles (12.8 km) from France. They form part of the Bailiwick of Jersey and are administratively part of the Parish of St. Martin.
The most significant islets in the group are:
- Maîtr'Île
- La Marmotchiéthe ('La Marmotière' in gallicized form)
- Lé Bliantch'Île (La Blanche Île in gallicized form);
others include:
- Les D'mies
- La Grand' Naithe
- L'Etchièrviéthe
- Lé Fou
- La Froutchie
All but the three largest are submerged at high tide. There are no permanent residents on the islands and there is no fresh water there. Due to erosion, they are now much smaller than they may have been within historic times. Maîtr'Île, the largest of the islets, is about 300 metres (0.19 mi) long. There are a small number of fishermen's huts, some used as holiday residences, on the largest islets, and one official building, a customs house, on La Marmotchiéthe.
The name 'Écréhous' is Norse in origin. "Esker" as in Skerry meaning a stony bank and ' Hou', the toponym found also in Jethou, Lihou, Brecqhou, Burhou and other islets, derives from holm, meaning island. The first part of the name appears to be traced back to the Norse word sker, meaning reef. The Écréhous are actually, geologically, part of the same island group as Les Dirouilles (west) and Les Pierres de Lecq ('the Paternosters') (further west).